Category: Subject Index

When Moses was 120 years old he called Israel together, and told them that their sojourn in the wilderness was coming to an end. Because of his sin at Kadesh (cf. Numbers 20), Moses would not be allowed to lead the people into the promised land. After promising the people that God was with them, he anointed Joshua as the new leader of the fledgling nation. He told Joshua in the presence of the people, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:7-8).

Continue reading ““Be Strong and of Good Courage”” →

“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28).

We have been studying the subject of humility quite a bit in our Wednesday evening class. You might remember the point I made about pride being a characteristic of the world. Jesus establishes that truth in the text above. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.” Not much has changed in the intervening centuries.

Our Lord’s attitude toward pride and oppression has not changed either. 2,000 years ago Jesus said, “Yet is shall not be so among you…” 2,000 years later He expects the same thing of His people. His example as our Savior, coming to earth in the service of man, is a compelling one.

Do you want to please God? Do you want to be exalted in the final day? Then live a humble and consecrated life of service to others! “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:5).

Invitation delivered by: Armando Vera

Too often people allow fear to paralyze them to inaction. Christians can be cheated out of character building, becoming what God wants us to be, and becoming successful even to the point of obtaining heaven, all because they are afraid to put forth the effort to succeed. (Matthew 25:14-30)

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It is childish. Like a kid wondering if he will get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But, many men are more concerned about getting caught than they are being truly righteous. The lesson concludes that with God, you can’t avoid the consquences of sin, death and judgment.

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The sermon describes a popular, present day view of Grace (sometimes referred to as the Hyper-Grace movement), showing its fallacies, and establishing what scripture teaches regarding man’s response to the gift of salvation.

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Invitation delivered by: Josh Cox

The world tries to convince us that there are many ways to reach heaven. In this lesson, Josh reveals the one way to be saved.

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The apostle Paul suffered through many dangerous and difficult circumstances in Asia. He was persecuted in Lystra (Acts 14); there was a plot against his life in Macedonia (Acts 20:3); he fought against wild beasts in Ephesus (1 Cor. 15:32). Here he refers to one, or perhaps all of those troubles, stating that the “sentence of death” was in him, and that he “despaired even of life.” A more complete list of what Paul suffered is given in 2 Cor. 11:22-29.

Paul wished to share the information regarding his struggles with the Corinthians, that they might know of his trust in God, as the one “who raises the dead.” Paul knew that his life had been spared many times by providence, God having a further purpose for him. Even on the occasion where he was left for dead (cf. Acts 14:19), his life was spared.

Paul also attributed his rescue from peril to the petitions made for him by others (11). In thanking them for their prayers, he shows us the power of prayer too, and encourages us to pray for others.

God hates sin. There is no doubt concerning this, as the scriptures use that very term to describe God’s attitude toward various sins. For example, the sin of idolatry. Deuteronomy 16:21-22 records, among other admonitions in that context, “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.” Likewise, in Malachi 2:16, it is written, “‘For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.’”

Continue reading “Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner” →

From time to time it is difficult for me to decide what to write for my frequent “In the News” articles. Sometimes there is so much to choose from in current events, that it is hard to decide what to write about. Other times I struggle to find anything that I feel would help those who read my articles.

Continue reading “In the News: Desire the Word!” →

The heart, as the term is described in scripture, encompasses the intellect, emotions, conscience and will of man. As such, it must be kept pure. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

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The sermon examines four things we can expect at the Day of Resurrection:

• To hear Christ’s voice commanding death to give up its captives
• The dead to be raised incorruptible
• Individual judgment of our lives on this earth
• It to happen in the twinkling of an eye

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Powerpoint Slides

This week I came across a powerful video on YouTube, titled, 41 Years of Roe v Wade. It was produced by the Texas Alliance for Life, and consisted of 41 different women, born from 1973 to 2014, each giving a statistic or fact about the fight for unborn lives since that time. The video can be found with a simple search using the title, or by typing in the following URL:

http://tinyurl.com/n5mkp49

Here are a few of the points made in the video:

Continue reading “In the News: 41 Years of Roe v Wade” →

Deuteronomy 32 records the song that Moses spoke to assembled Israel just before his death. Joshua took over as leader of the people, as they crossed over the Jordan and at long last entered the promised land of Canaan. There is a beautiful sentiment expressed in the opening words of the song:

“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, o earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
For I proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.”
(Deuteronomy 32:1-4)

Notice that Moses characterized his speech, where he proclaimed “the name of the Lord,” as words of freshness and revival, likening them to rain and dew.

Dew, (tiny drops of water that form on cool surfaces during the night, as water vapor condenses) has always been portrayed as beautiful and rejuvenating. In the very beginning, God used such to water the ground, “but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:6).

Continue reading “Drops of Dew” →

Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox

In 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul expressed concern regarding the Thessalonians, who were suffering persecution. Interestingly, his concern was not for their safety, but for their faith. It was his hope that they would be established “blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:1-13)

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In this text, the apostle expressed thanks for the blessings the Corinthians had received from Jesus. These blessings to which he referred were the spiritual gifts such as tongue speaking, prophecy, etc. With these, the “testimony of Christ was confirmed” in them (vs. 6). This is a primary purpose of such spiritual gifts. They not only equipped each one who received them, they also confirmed the teaching that each one imparted to others.

Paul, as did the rest of the New Testament writers, commonly looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ (7). From His departure, recorded in Acts 1:9-11, the emphasis has ever been upon his eventual return. The angels affirmed that He, “will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

In these introductory words, we see a foreshadowing of admonitions to come. Paul’s mention of spiritual gifts as blessings that enrich in verses 4-7 presage his admonition of their abuse of such gifts in chapters 12-14. His continual references to Jesus (9 times in the first 9 verses) serve to center the Corinthians minds upon the Christ, rather than their own divisive tendencies to inappropriately elevate mere men (cf. 1:10-15, 3:1-6).